If you've outgrown the fashion appeal of Apple's stock earbuds and you're ready to step up to a proper pair of headphones, Apple's £54 In-Ear headphones are a killer upgrade. They won't make everyone happy, however, as some of the features included with the headphones will not work with the iPhone or older iPod models.
Design
The Apple In-Ear headphones include a plastic carrying case with a cable wrap, three pairs of silicone ear tips (small, medium and large) and a set of replacement mesh caps that come in handy when earwax inevitably builds up. The earpieces are very light, comfortable and stylish, and the cable runs around 1m long.
Unlike Apple's standard-issue earbuds, which rest just outside the ear, the Apple In-Ear headphones are intended to fit literally in your ears, similar to wearing earplugs. The three pairs of interchangeable silicone ear tips included with the headphones ensure that the earpieces completely seal your ear canal, isolating you from ambient noise and delivering better sound quality at a lower volume. While the earplug-like sound isolation provides a quiet backdrop for music listening, we don't advise wearing them for a morning jog, or any activity requiring some awareness of your surroundings.
Because the ear tips are made from a white silicone, they will discolour more quickly than the black and grey ear tips we're used to seeing from brands like Shure and Etymotic. In fact, if you've ever used a pair of Apple earbuds, you know that the all-white cable and earpiece design also tends to show dirt sooner rather than later.
Features
An in-line clicker remote and microphone are included on these headphones, located on the cable about 10cm down from the right earpiece. The remote includes plus and minus buttons for volume control and a central button for playing, pausing and skipping songs. If you're using the In-Ear headphones with an iPhone, the centre button also works for answering or ending incoming calls -- however, the volume control buttons are not compatible with the first- or second-generation models of the iPhone.
On the flipside of the in-line remote is a pinhole microphone, which can be used with the iPhone or the following models of iPods: iPod nano (fourth generation), iPod touch (second generation) and iPod classic (second generation). The aforementioned iPod models can take advantage of the headphone's in-line microphone for making voice memos.
If you own an older iPod model not mentioned in the preceding paragraph you won't be able to use the microphone or remote control features of the Apple In-Ear headphones. However, you can still use the headphones to listen to music.
Despite the complicated compatibility issues of the In-Ear headphone's clicker and microphone, they remain good value. Each earpiece includes two balanced armature drivers acting as a woofer and tweeter, which is a rare feature in a pair of sub-£80 headphones. Provided that you've spent some time achieving a good fit with the right size ear tips, the Apple In-Ear headphones offer a rich, full sound that doesn't strain for audiophile flatness.
Performance
Sonically, these headphones juice a little on the highs and lows, with a pleasantly transparent midrange. Compared with V-Moda's Vibe II, the Apple In-Ear headphones offer a more restrained low end and better articulation in the higher frequencies (we also found them lighter and more comfortable to wear).
When heard side-by-side with Etymotic's HF2 headphones we had the opposite reaction, noticing the HF2's improved clarity and overall transparent sonic character but occasionally preferring the way Apple's In-Ear headphones emphasised lower frequencies.
Conclusion
Just for fun, we played these alongside Apple's stock earbuds and the difference was like night and day. Whether that difference is worth £54 is a completely subjective decision. Overall, the headphones are a much-needed upgrade from what Apple bundles with its products.
Additional editing by Cristina Psomadakis
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews4
Add your review
I hate u 17 June 2011
Good: everything
Bad: too good
Comment: just buy it youll be glad you did
Onil 23 April 2010
Good: amazing sound quality and fits just perfect
Bad: nothing
Comment: Apple's in-ear headphones have an amazing sound quality and the remote/mic is very useful for those who have an iPhone or a new iPod. It isolates very well.
Good choice..!
Vishak 17 April 2010
Good: Sound Quality, Comfort, Remote Control + Mic, Works with my BB Bold 9700.
Bad: Horrible build quality (Read the Whole Review)
Comment: The Apple In-Ear headphones are definitely better than the ones we get bundled with iPods but that isn't really something to boast about, because what isn't? The sound quality of the headphones are pretty good (better when hooked up to a laptop).
I have no complaints about the sound quality. For an In-Ear headphone it performs well. It is comfortable to wear and the Remote Control does come in very handy, keeps you from having to reach into your pockets all the time and unlock your iPod just to press next. Another Pro (for me) is that the mic and the remote(just the play/pause button) works with my Blackberry 9700 (didn't work with my old HTC hero)
Now the Cons. I've had these headphones for about 10 months now. I must say, for a company like Apple that strives on build quality, they really fail epically when it comes to earphones. After about 4 months, the grey rubber band just below the plastic of the right earphone came loose and was free to move up and down the wire. I had to stick it back using super glue. This same thing happened with the grey band around the left earphone after about another month.
We are provided with 3 pairs of different sized ear-buds in the box. After using the small ones for about 5 months, they were no longer tight enough to be held by the metal protrusion that the bud is inserted onto. So when I just remove the earphones from my ear because someone's trying to talk to me or just because I'm just done with my music, the bud itself stays stuck in my ear even though the earphone itself comes off. On top of looking stupid with the bud stuck to inside your ear canal, it's a pain to remove as it fits quite tightly(good thing, but not in this case). I'm now using a different size bud that doesn't fit me perfectly as apple don't sell the buds separately. How ridiculous is that!! So if i needed a small pair of buds, Apple expects me to buy another pair of their in-ear headphones from them?!
Now for my last complaint on the build quality. The small white bit of rubber(or plastic) that slides to hold the two wires leading to the earphones together has a small slit on one side that can be used to completely separate the two wires (now an apple earphone standard). What the geniuses at Apple didn't think about is, if this small white bit of rubber/plastic was manufactured with even a fraction of a millimetre of error(which it was in my case), the wire would just slide out of the slit(which it does) and be of absolutely no use! What is the point of the slit anyway?! There isn't one!
See all 4 user reviews